Belly roller and side splitting machine



sept, 1s, 1934.

F. .JL coAD 1,973,695

BELLY ROLLER AND SIDE SPLITTING MACHINE Filed Oct. l0, 1931 4Sheets-'Sheet 1 wie jedefjc Co'd INVENToR BgygN/v Ww ATTORNEY Sept. 18,1 934. F, Jl. coAD 1,973,695

BELLY ROLLER AND SIDE SPLITTING MACHIE Filed oct. 1o, 1951 4sheets-Sheet 2 fec/efjc J. Cod

l INVENTOR WlTNessA- i BY .91x @mm ATTORNEY sept. 1s, 1934. F, J. COAD1,913,695

BELLY ROLLER AND SIDE SPLITTING MACHINE Filed 001,. 10, 1931 4Sheets-Sheet I5 Mmm! MHH ffederfc C'Oa7 INVENTOR WITNESS v BY a www lwww ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1934. F. J. coAD I BELLY ROLLER AND SIDESPLITTING MACHINE Filed oct. 1o, 1951 4 sheets-sheet 4 9 ,l so

INVENTOR -w|TNcas l Byu e. WM W'MN ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 1x8, 1934UNITED STATES PATeN NFics 1BELLY ROLLER AND SIDE sPLi'rTING MACHINEIllinois Application October 10,

10 Claims.

The invention relates toa belly roller and side splitting machine and isparticularly concerned with the providing of such a machine with aguiding means or shoe along which a rolled belly moves and by which itis guided in a straight path as the rolled belly section is severed by acutter of the machine. Y

The invention also relates to an attachment for a belly roller and sidesplitting machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide a simple, practicaland efficient guide of strong, durable and comparatively inexpensiveconstruction designed to be applied as an attachment to belly roller andside splitting machines and adapted to avoid bowed bellies. When feedinghog sides to the belly roller and side splitting machine there hasalways been a tendency for the sides to shift causing the bellies to benarrow at one end and Wide at the other end. The attachment of thepresent invention practically eliminates this condition.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed, illustrated in the'accompanying drawings, and set forth inthe claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes inthe form, proportion and minor details of construction, within the scopeof the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit ofthe invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

In the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a guide attachment constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a similar view on the line 4 4 or Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the guide attachment.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the vertically movable rod andthe tension spring.

Fig. '7 is a side elevation of a belly roller and side splitting machineshowing the guide attachment applied thereto. l

Fig. S is a rear end elevation of the same.

Fig. 9 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8.;

In the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated the preferredembodiment of the invention, the guide attachment is shown applied to abelly roller and side splitting machine comprising in its construction asupporting frame 1, an inclined endless conveyor 2, Vspaced belly 1931,Serial No. 568,021 (Cl. 14S- 81) rollers 3 and 4 and circular cutters 5and 6. The endless conveyor may-be of any desired construction and isprovided at the rotary cutters with ways, grooves or spaces '7 toreceive the lower portions oi the rotary knives to enable the same topass entirely` through the hog sides and to a point slightly .beneaththe supporting surface of the endless conveyor. The knife receivinggrooves or spaces may be iormed in any desired manner, as will bereadily understood, and in the accompanying drawings, the endlessconveyor is shown as composed of central and side sections 8 and 9. Therotary knives may have either smooth or tooth cutting edges. The hogsides are so placed on the conveyor in advance of the belly rollers thatthe belly part will be pressed by the belly rollers while the iat backextends along one side of the rollers and the rotary knife whichseparates the iat back from the belly. The rotary knives are located atopposite sides of the machine which is adapted to roli and sever eitherright or left bellies.

In .order to prevent the hog sides from shifting and causing the belliesto be cut narrow at one end and wide at the other, the machine isequipped with guides l() consisting oi shoes designed in practice to beplaced approximately two inches to the right and left to the circularknives, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings.

Each shoe which is constructed of suitable metal extends longitudinallyof the endless conveyor and consists of a front curved portion 1 1 and arear straight guiding portion l2. The iront portion extends forwardlyand upwardly from the front end of the straight guiding portion l2 andpresents a convex surface to a hog side to enable the same to readilypass beneath the shoe which is yieldably mounted and which is adapted toexert a yieldable pressure upon the hog sides.

The straight guiding portion l2 which corn-v stitutes the body of theguide consists of a iiat, oblong bar laterally inclined or slanted andpresenting an inclined plane lower face to the belly portion of a hogside and yieldably engaging the same and adapted to guide and hold thehog side whileV the fat back is being severed by the rotary knifewhereby shifting of the hog side and theV cutting of bellies with oneend narrow and the other end wide are practically eliminated. Thelateral inclination or slant on the body or guid ing portion-of the shoeis contrcledby a tension spring 13 which produces the same pressure onthick and thin sides and thereby practically eliminates the tendency ofthe hog sides to shift while passing through the machine. When the shoeis not engaging a hog side it is approximately one one half inches fromthe endless apron of the conveyor at one side and the space between theinclined lower surface of the straight guiding portion of the shoe andthe said apron tapers down to approximately one inch at the other sideof the shoe.

Th. iront curved portion 1l is narrow and appro; mately the same widthas the straight rear guiding portion. The outer or iront end of thecurved portion 11 is approximately vertical and the lower rear portionis slightly inclined at lll where it is connected to the straight rearguiding portion. One of the side edges of the curved front portions isin iiush relation with the adjacent side edge of the straight rearguiding portion at the said point of connection and the entire side edgeof the shoe at such side of the same is in the same plane.

rThe tension which is of spiral formation is disposed on a verticallymovable rod 15 arranged lin hollow or tubular guide 16 and having anupper threaded portion 17 and a lower enlarged portion 18 provided atthe top with a circular head 19 forming a seat for the lower end of thetension spring 13. The enlargedlower portion 18 is forked or bifurcatedto provide a longitudinal slot 20 for the reception of a vertical arin21 integral with the shoe and rising from the same at the juncture ofthe front and rear portions 11 and l2 thereof. The arm 2l fits in theslot 20 abutting against the upper end wall thereof and is secured tothe sides of the portion 18 by a bolt 23 or other fastening devicewhereby the shoe is rigidly connected with the vertically movable rodl5.

The hollow or tubular guide is preferably rectangular in cross sectionand consists of front,t rear and side plates 24 welded together at thecorners at 25, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, but thehollow or tubular guide may be of any other preferred construction aswill be readily understood.

The side plates of the guide are provided at their lower ends withvertical slots 26 extending upwardly from the lower ends of the saidplates and open at their lower ends to receive the arm 21 which extendslaterally beyond the lower portion 18 of the rod l5 at both sides of thesame to slide in the said slots 26 whereby the rod is free to slidevertically and is held against rotary movement in the guide 16. Theupper ends of the side plates of the guide are bent outwardly at rightkangles to form laterally extending attaching flanges or portions 27which are secured by bolts 28 or other suitable fastening devices to ahorizontal metal bar 29 extending across the machine, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings and having the opposite guidessecured to it. The transverse guide connecting bar 29 is preferablyarranged at and secured to the lower face of the cross bar 30 of themachine, but the guides may be mounted in other desired manner. Thecross bar is nged upon and secured to vertical posts or standar ds 33which carry the bearings for the shaft 32 of the rotary knives 5. Theknives and the endless conveyor may be driven by any suitable means aswill be readily understood. The rod 17 extends through the bar 29`andthe cross bar 3i) and is provided at its threaded portion with a nut Sladapted to engage the bar 30 and forming a stop for limiting thedownward movement of the shoe for holding the same above and out ofcontact with the endless conveyor. By adjusting the screw the size ofthe normal space between the shoe and the conveyor, may be varied.

It will be noted that the upper strand of the inclined endless conveyor2 provides a longitudinally and rearwardly moving table upon which a hogside is supported while the belly portion of the hog side is being rollpressed and flattened and while the fat back is being cut from the restof the hog side. This table in transverse direction i extendshorizontally but in longitudinal direction it extends rearwardly with ayslight upward inclination. The'ciroular cutters 5 and 6 which arecarried on the transversely extending shaft 32 therefor which is abovethe table may be considered as cutters operatively associated with thetable and each as operating in a vertically and longitudinally extendingplane.

The spaced belly rollers 3 and 4 may be considered as' rotatable, eachabout a transversely extending axis, and as being arranged above thetable so that the axis of the rollers are ahead oi the -of thetransversely extending cutter carrying shaft and so as to cooperate withthe table to roll press and iiatten the belly portions of a hog side asthe latter moves rearwardly to a cutter, as 5 or 6.

The guides 10, consists of shoes each of which comprises the frontcurved portions 11 and the rear straight guiding section or portion 12,are located so as to extend rearwardly in respect to the cutter, in factas shown each guide 10 is provided in and by an attachment that includesthe vertically extending tubular guide llthat is located behind thecutter oarryng shaft 32. The guides 10 are located rearwardly in respectto the pressing and flattening rollers 3 and 4. Each guide or shoethereof is transversely spaced from the cutter to which it correspondsand is arranged so as to engage and guide in a straight line the bellyportion of a hog side as it passes from the cutter and until the fatback is completely severed from the rest of the hog side during thestraight guided movement in a rearward direction. Each guiding portion12 of the guide 10 has, the lateral inclinationor slant previouslymentioned, namely, ven the under side of the guiding portion 12 a slantwhich in transverse direction is upwardly and outwardly or in otherwords toward the cutter with which the guide is cooperativelyassociated. The

laterally inclined shoe functions in holding the belly up against theknife and in avoiding bowed backs and extra trimming on the belly afterpassing through the machine. From an inspection of Fig. 7 it will benoted that the forward curved end 11 of the shoe engages the flattenedbelly portion shortly after the cutting operation thereupon has startedand from then on and until the cu*- ting operation is c mpleted the shoeengages the flattened belly portionto control its positionrand ensure arearward guided movement in a straight line.

The two sets of belly rollers, knives and guides enable the machine toroll and split right and left bellies, as indicated in dotted lines in 8of the drawings, and the hog sides will be guided j by the shoes in astraight line and will be prevented froin shifting on the endlessconveyor. Also, the shoes will exert substantially a uniform pressureYon both thin and thick shoulders.

' What is claimed istl 1. In a belly rolling and side splitting machinehaving a longitudinally and rearwardly extending table, a cutterloperable in a longitudinally extending plane, rollers revolvaole aboutsversely extending axis and arranged to lia-ttenV fis lao

sition for cutting and guiding the hog side in aY straight line untilthe cutting operation'is nonin pleted.

2. In a belly rolling and side splitting machine having a longitudinallyand rearwardly extendingv table, a cutter operable in a longitudinallyextending plane, -rollers revolvable about trans- -versely extendingaxis and arranged to flatten the belly portion of the hog side as thelatter is fed longitudinally to the cutter while supported on the tableduring the cutting of the flattened belly portion from the rest of thehog side, an attachment comprising a guiding shoe having a straight flatlaterally inclined portion presenting a plane inclined lower face to thebelly of a hog side and adapted to hold the same in proper position forcutting and guiding the hog side in a straight line until the cuttingoperation is completed.

3. In a belly rolling and side splitting machine having a longitudinallyand rearwardly extending table, a cutter operable in a longitudinallyextending plane, rollers revolvable about transversely extending axisand arranged to flatten the belly portion of the hog side as the latteris fed longitudinally to the cutter While supported on the table duringthe cutting of the flattened belly portion from the rest of the hogside, an attachment comprising a guiding shoe having a lstraight narrowlaterally inclined portion presenting an inclined lower face to thebelly of a hog side, said shoe being also provided at the front with anarrow upwardly curved portion presenting a convex surface to the hogsides to enable the same 'to pass readily beneath the shoe whereby thebelly is guided by the shoe until the cutting operation is completed.

4. In a belly rolling and side splitting machine having a longitudinallyand rearwardly extending table, a cutter operable in a longitudinallyextending plane, rollers revolvable about transversely extending axisand arranged to ilatten i the belly portion of the hog side as thelatter is fed longitudinally to the cutter While supported on the tableduring the cutting of the flattened belly portion from the rest of thehog side, an attachment comprising a guiding shoe presenting a laterallyinclined surface to the belly o1 a hog side and adapted to hold thesaine in proper position for cutting and guiding the hog side in astraight line until the cutting operation is completed, and yieldablemeans for maintaining the guiding shoe in contact with the hog sides andfor causing approximately the same pressure on both thin and thicksides.

5. In a belly rolling and side splitting machine having a longitudinallyand rearwardly extending table, a cutter operable in a longitudinallyextending plane, rollers revolvable about transversely extending axisand arranged to flatten the belly portion of the hog side as the latteris fed longitudinally to the cutter while supported on the table duringthe cutting of the flattened belly portion :trom the rest of the hogside, an attachment comprising a guiding shoe presenting a laterallyinclini d surface to the belly of a hog side and adapted to hold thesame in proper position for cutting and guiding the hog side in astraight line until the cutting operation is completed, a verticallymovable Vrod connected with the shoe, a hollow guide receiving the rod,and a tension spring housed within the hollow guide for causing the shoeto engage both thin and thick sides with approximately the samepressure.

6. In abelly rolling and side splitting machine having a longitudinallyand rearwardly extendn ing table, a cutter operable in. a'longitudinally extendingrplane, rollers revolvable about transverselyextending axis and arranged to flatten the belly portion of the hog sideas the latter `is fedlongitudinally to the cutter while supportedv onthetable during the cutting of the flattened belly portion from the rest ofthe hog side, an attachment comprising a guiding shoe presenting alaterally inclined surface to the belly of a hog side and adapted tohold the same in proper position for cutting and guiding the hog side ina straight line until the cutting operation is completed, an arrn rigidwith and rising from the shoe, a hollow guide having opposite slotsguiding the side portions of the said arm, and a spring housed withinthe guide for urging the shoe downwardly.

7. An attachment for belly roller and side splitting machines comprisinga guiding shoe presenting a laterally inclined surface to the belly of ahog side and adapted to hold the saine in proper position for cuttingand guiding the hog side in a straight line, an arm rigid with andrising from the shoe, a hollow guide having opposite slots guiding theside portions of the said arm, a spring housed within the guide forurging the shoe downwardly, and a rod secured to the said arm andprovided with means for limiting the downward movement of the shoe.

8. An attachment for belly roller and side splitting machines comprisinga guiding shoe .presenting a laterally inclined surface to the belly ofa hog side and adapted to hold the saine in proper position for cuttingand guiding the hog sidein a straight line, an arm rigid with and risingfrom the shoe, a hollow guide having opposite slots guiding the sideportions of the said arrn, a spring housed within the guide for urgingthe shoe downwardly, and a rod extending through the guide and receivingthe spring and having an enlarged portion engaged by the spring andsecured to the said arm, and means carried by the rod for limiting thedownward movement of the rod.

9. A 'belly rolling and side splitting machine comprising in operativecombination and arrangement, a longitudinally and rearwardly movingtable, a transversely extending cutter conveying shaft, a cutterthereupon operating in a vertically andlongitudinally extending plane,rollers revolving about transversely extending axis and arranged forroll pressing the belly portion of a hog side while the latter is beingfed rearwardly by the table to the cutter during the cutting of the iatback from the rest of the hog side and a guiding shoe located in therear of the rollers and in transversely spaced relationship in respectto the cutter and having a longitudinally extending guiding portion withthe under side of which the belly has sliding engagement whereby the hogside is held in position for cutting and is guided in a straight lineuntil the cutting operation is completed, the under side ofthelongitudinally extending guiding portion of the guiding shoe having alateral inclination extending upwardly and toward the cutter with whichthe shoe is associated.

l0. A belly rolling and side splitting machine comprising in operativecombination and arrangement, a longitudinally and rearwardly movingtable, a transversely extending cutter conveying shaft, a cutterthereupon operating in a vertically and longitudinally extending plane,rollers revolving about transversely extending axis and arranged forroll pressing the belly portion of a hog side while the latter is beingfed rearwardly by the table to the cutter during the cutting of the fatback from the rest of the rhog side and a guiding shoe located in therear of the rollers and in transversely spaced relationship in respectto the cutter and having a longi- FREDERIC J. COAD.

